The Powers That Be: Daily

Marianna Sotomayor—Puck’s new Capitol Hill correspondent—joins Peter to dig into the sudden Democratic panic about losing the House in November, after the Supreme Court’s blow to the Voting Rights Act sent Republican-led southern states racing to redraw their maps, and the Virginia Supreme Court killed the Democrats’ counter-play. Marianna explains why even the smartest prognosticators won’t predict a winner now, and why some lawmakers want a truce. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Ourand joins Peter from Upfronts Week in New York, where NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been telling everyone in earshot that the league is the only programming that still moves ad budgets. John also discusses his scoop that Netflix has muscled YouTube out of a new NFL package, before turning to the conspicuously quiet U.S. buildup to the 2026 World Cup. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amid their own pivot to video, the besties Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby reunite to chew over James Murdoch’s shocking but unsurprising bid for Vox Media’s most valuable assets. Then the duo weigh in on a surprising wrinkle in the NFL’s attempt to bid up its broadcast partners. “Subscribe to the Powers That Be channel on YouTube https://youtube.com/@thepowersthatbepodcast “ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lauren’s guest is The Ringer’s Amanda Dobbins. They discuss the best and worst of the Met Gala red carpet, the Bezos discourse, the tech bro discourse, why the theme of the gala and the exhibit have to be different (do they?), plus more ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ talk. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marion Maneker joins Peter to discuss the art market’s resurgence after years in the doldrums, driven by a wave of significant collections hitting the auction block. Marion explains why the ultra-wealthy seem remarkably unbothered by tariffs, geopolitical turmoil, and everything else rattling the broader economy—and what it all portends for the art market moving forward. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Ioffe joins Peter with the latest from the Iran front, where Trump this week declared the war is actually over—and in the very next breath threatened to start bombing again if the regime refuses to sign a one-page memo laying out a peace process and nuclear deal. Julia tries to make sense of the mixed signals and where things really stand. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eric Gardner joins Peter to dig into the Justice Department’s first-ever commodities fraud case tied to a prediction market—and how it could reshape how Kalshi, Polymarket, and sports leagues police insiders across sports, media, and politics. Then they turn to Gavin Newsom’s $787 million defamation suit against Fox News, and why a Delaware judge just kept it alive. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lauren Sherman joins Peter with notes from last night’s Met Gala—the usual spectacle of celebrities and couture, with one increasingly hard-to-ignore addition: tech money. Lauren explains that while Anna Wintour may not like their outfits, she certainly likes their checkbooks. Then the duo discuss ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ and the lineup of brands that queued up for a cameo. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jon Kelly and Peter reunite to break the fourth wall and discuss their own pivot to video. (Yes, you can now watch The Powers That Be, thank you very much...) The besties also debate some uncomfortable topics lingering from last week's WHCA Dinner melee before assessing the Jeff D'Onofrio era at The Wahsington Post. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Family Lore is a weekly narrative podcast that celebrates and investigates ancestral mystique. Each episode begins with a guest sharing a fascinating family legend, followed by a historical deep-dive to uncover the truth and meaning behind the tale. Available now: https://link.pscrb.fm/f0281/FLFD To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trey Yingst, the leading war correspondent on Fox News, joins Dylan to talk about building one of the most prominent social media presences in TV news—and what his multiplatform reach means not just for his own profile but for Fox News as a whole. Yingst reflects on covering some of the world’s most consequential conflicts, including the U.S.-Iran war and the Israel-Gaza conflict, and makes the case for why social media and traditional broadcasting are more complementary than competitive. He also weighs in on maintaining journalistic integrity across platforms and the urgent, often overlooked issue of protecting journalists working in dangerous regions. See all the ways bp is driving American energy forward at ⁠bp.com/InvestingInAmerica.⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill Cohan joins Peter to chew over the aftershocks from last weekend’s White House Correspondents' Dinner, where the chaos inside the ballroom is still reverberating through the nation’s power corners. Then Bill turns to his latest reporting on Sam Bankman-Fried, who's still angling for a way out of prison—and how the staggering scale of his financial losses could factor into his legal battle. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter to break down the Supreme Court’s recent blow to the Voting Rights Act, ruling that Louisiana must eliminate a majority-Black congressional district—which was quickly followed by Florida passing a new congressional map that could wipe out four sitting Democrats before the year is out. Then Leigh Ann weighs in on the escalating tension between John Thune and Mike Johnson, where the friction between the two chambers appears to have reached a new low. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to dig into the power struggle reshaping the Pentagon, where Pete Hegseth’s promotion of Christopher LaNeve to Army Chief of Staff is raising serious questions. Julia explains how LaNeve’s swift ascent from obscurity—and the purge of popular generals that made room for it—has fueled growing suspicions that he’s become Hegseth’s instrument of choice in Hegesth’s campaign to consolidate control over the military. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dylan Byers joins Peter to assess the state of political media in the wake of the attempted Trump assassination at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner—and the perplexing normalization of political violence in the Trump era. Then Dylan previews looming changes at 60 Minutes and weighs into Bari Weiss’s ambition to franchise the most-watched news show on television. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After an unexpectedly off-script night at The Hilton in D.C., Jon Kelly and Peter trade their WHCA reflections and observations before turning their attention to the NFL’s Capitol Hill charm offensive and the final micro-dramas of the WBD journey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leigh Ann Caldwell sits down with Indiana Sen. Jim Banks to discuss the red lines for any ceasefire agreement with Iran, before getting into whether the ongoing war is a political liability for Republicans heading into the midterms, what rising gas prices mean for Trump, and the redistricting battles reshaping the electoral map. This special episode of The Powers That Be is brought to you by Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to dig into the whispers around Washington that Netflix is quietly working to torpedo the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. Then they consider whether state attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, have the legal muscle to block the merger—which is exactly what a lot of powerful people in Hollywood are demanding. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dylan Byers joins Peter to preview this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where Donald Trump’s first-ever attendance is already rattling the media class. And the guest list isn’t helping: Bari Weiss has tapped Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth to attend with CBS News. But Dylan explains, amid the outrage, the cocktail circuit rolls on—arguably as busy as ever. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill Cohan joins Peter to make sense of Wall Street’s latest head-scratcher—big banks posting record profits, even as an Iran-driven energy shock accelerates inflation and sends gas prices climbing. What’s driving the disconnect between economic anxiety on the ground and seemingly unshakeable optimism on Wall Street? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices